Design Talk (dot IE)

Monday, March 6, 2023

0184 - Digital Galway with John Sterne

Season 12, Ep. 184

Hosts: David Heskin and Allen Higgins

We are very pleased to have John Sterne, a technology journalist, historian and digital archivist, long involved in recording the social history of technology in Ireland: writing books, articles, press and online on the website techarchives.irish.

John, can we start by telling us a little about yourself and your vision for techarchives.irish?

So, today’s conversation, hopefully the first of many, we want to look at multiplier effects and spill-over benefits of having subsidiaries of multinational firms in based in your country.

To test these ideas, we are going back 30 years or so to when Digital came to Ireland. By Digital we mean the company, also known as DEC or Digital Equipment Corporation.

· Let’s start with the DEC story, who were the main actors at the time?

· Was DEC’s corporate culture different to its peers? (The distinctive culture inside a corporation run by 20th century engineers – not by investors or accountants)

· And DEC’s products, did they deserve their reputation for innovation?

· How did Galway City, the West of Ireland, end up as the home for DEC’s European manufacturing operations centre?

· How many sites did DEC end up having in Ireland and what kinds of work were the Irish sites involved in?

· How did DEC interact with the corporate and political scene in Ireland and Europe?

· Was there a tradition of entrepreneurial talent emerging from DEC during the good years?

· And then we arrive at 1993, DEC closes its Irish assembly plants after 22 years of operation. It must have been devastating…

· A lot has been written positing the resilience and value of “Industrial Clusters”. What lessons were learnt in the wake of DEC’s closure?

· And what did Digital itself think? What was the corporate view on reflection some years after the experience?

· <questions from the audience>

Well, John, we’ll wrap up there.

Thank you for taking the time to talk and for sharing your knowledge. Let’s do this again and continue the conversation…

Notes:

https://techarchives.irish/

Acknowledgements

Music

Title: Voltaic Fluctuations

Artist: Ben Prunty

Source: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/

License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben Prunty

Cover Art

Title: Complex collage

Artist: Allen Higgins

Source: vignette_version.pptx

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Podcast License

Design Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0

By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast.

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Tuesday, May 9, 2023

0197 - A Short History of Digital Transformation with Joe Peppard

Season 12, Ep. 197

Host: Allen HigginsWe are very pleased to welcome Professor Joe Peppard, educator, consultant, and researcher.First, Joe, could you share a few words about your career to-date and your passion for IT?· <talking points>· Computers, networks, Internet, and platform software as transformative technologies.· Knowledge management for technology.· Automation, strategic transformation, and organisational change.· Implications for the increasing use of AI in the economy.· New ways of working echo old ways of working.· Technology market – temporary monopolies and cycles of competitive domination.· Platform economies – the shift from hardware to operating systems to software as a service.· Transformational moments in computing and technology inflection points.· <any audience questions?>Well, we’ll wrap up now.Thank you for the stimulating discussion with lots of new ideas to reflect upon.Thank you for sharing your thoughts today.NOTES:Joe Peppard - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-peppard-5868513/AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Voltaic FluctuationsArtist: Ben PruntySource: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben PruntyCover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: vignette_version.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

0196 - Talking about Process Data with Cormac Garvey

Season 12, Ep. 196

Hosts: Anugrah Gupta and Sindhusuta MohantyWe are very pleased to have Cormac Garvey with us today. Cormac’s career spans factory automation, control systems, systems architecture, software prototyping and information modelling.· Cormac, before we start, can you introduce us to your world. · You’ve described yourself as working at the plumbing end of data analytics. Can you explain what that means?· Who uses the data and what do they use it for? · Having worked with and mastered a wide range of software tools over your career, what go-to approaches are in your consulting toolbox?· Can you give us a sketch of your approach to requirements capture?· How do you approach conceptual design? Both as an individual consultant and as a member of a team?· And translating a conceptual design into the full project?· What for you, is the essence of design?<and some questions from the student audience>Well, we’ll wrap up there.Thank you for sharing your ideas with us today.Notes:Cormac’s profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cormac-garvey-9a34503/Cormac’s start-up is HAL Software – a standards-based software design tool for process control and MES environments (manufacturing execution systems). Watch the 2 minute HAL overview video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A1cEYaqr-kCormac is a member of and/or participates in:· The OPCUA REST subgroup· The Open Process Automation Forum· And the “biophorum”The OPC Foundation (Open Platform Communications), an industry consortium that develops standards for connectivity of industrial automation devices and systems.OPC UA (Unified Architecture) is a cross-platform, open-source standard for data exchange from sensors to cloud applications developed by the OPC Foundation. IEC 62541 is the international standard describing the OPC UA information model.ISA-88, S88, aka ANSI/ISA88, is a standard addressing batch process control.ISA-95 aka Enterprise-Control System Integration. An automation workflow standard.AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Voltaic FluctuationsArtist: Ben PruntySource: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben PruntyCover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: vignette_version.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast.

Monday, May 1, 2023

0195 - Starting “lets-viz” with Neetu Singla

Season 12, Ep. 195

Hosts: Son Nguyen and Sunil KumarToday we are joined by Neetu Singla, co-founder of Lets Viz, headquartered in Delhi, India.Neetu, can you give us the backstory to starting “Lets Viz” and where are you based?· What does a typical workday look like?· Why is IT outsourcing from India appealing for clients?· Has outsourcing given a social impact benefit to India?· No doubt there is a huge opportunity for data analytics, analysis, visualisation. Where does the appetite for “Lets Viz” services come from and who is your ideal customer?· Tell us a little about the way data analytics is being used and what tools do you use?· How does remote work fit in with your business growth plans?· Is English language the baseline for international communication?· What is your approach to working with international partners? How do you manage timezone gaps and distance related issues?· How do you generate new business? · What are the opportunities and risks, running a business in the global marketplace? · How do you react? Starting with a new client and find out that they don’t have as much knowledge of their own data…· <any additional questions?>Well, we’ll wrap up there.Thank you for sharing your ideas with us today.Notes:https://lets-viz.comAcknowledgementsMusic Title: Voltaic FluctuationsArtist: Ben PruntySource: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben PruntyCover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: vignette_version.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast.